Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut, 52, who is also the state PAS treasurer, is a fisheries and marine science graduate from Universiti Putra Malaysia. He has nine children. He served as state entrepreneur development, consumer, youth and small medium enterprises committee chairman when PAS ruled Terengganu between 1999 and 2004.

Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut

His name was not even on political observers’ speculating list. Several big guns were mention, including Batu Burok state assemblyman Dr Syed Azman Ahmad Nawawi, who is also the former Kuala Terengganu MP, state PAS commissioner Datuk Mustafa Ali and his deputy Datuk Wan Muttalib Wan Embong.

The political observers were caught at the last minute. In what some people are describing as the weather in Terengganu is the classic example for its unpredictable likewise the politics. Weather forecasters have always been criticized for their frequent false predictions of weather in Terengganu likewise the political analysts for their false predictions of Terengganu politics.

Undeniably, the chosen PAS candidate is not quite a greenhorn but the big guns - popular Batu Burok state assemblyperson Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi or either one of the two PAS veterans, Mustafa Ali and Wan Abdul Mutalib Embong should have a better chance of winning the battle.

In the March 8 general elections, Razali narrowly defeated PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu by 628 votes. By a simple counting, PAS should have won the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary with simple majority of 539 votes instead of BN. Thus the candidate factor and 1,035 postal votes come into play in winning the seat.

Ironically, history did indeed repeat itself. In moments when variegated political forces are pitted against each other, certain individuals come to play pivotal roles.

The question for me, therefore, has to be how a decidedly popular candidate occurred under the auspices of decidedly unpopular circumstances. That unpopularity cannot be doubted.

The four state seats under the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency are as follow: